WIZARD'S 100 Greatest Covers

[RustyStaple]

 

A deserving cover for Top 10...

 

Bill

[Aces]

[BradleyX2]

 

 

 

100 Best Covers #5: Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981)

 

 

 

 

"I'll never forget when I first saw X-MEN # 141," says ELEKTRA cover artist Greg Horn. "I didn't understand what the hell was going on - Cyclops: Slain?! Nightcrawler: Slain?! I had to pick it up!" Artists John Byrne and Terry Austin demonstrated here why the ever-defiant Wolverine's a mad dog that can't be put down.

[AlexH]

X-Men #141 is one of my favs.

[s-man]

 

 

100 Best Covers #5: Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981)

 

 

 

 

"I'll never forget when I first saw X-MEN # 141," says ELEKTRA cover artist Greg Horn. "I didn't understand what the hell was going on - Cyclops: Slain?! Nightcrawler: Slain?! I had to pick it up!" Artists John Byrne and Terry Austin demonstrated here why the ever-defiant Wolverine's a mad dog that can't be put down.

 

Now the rest should be...

 

4. X-Men 134

3. X-Men 135

2. X-Men 136

1. X-Men 137

[COI]

 

 

100 Best Covers #5: Uncanny X-Men #141 (1981)

 

 

 

 

"I'll never forget when I first saw X-MEN # 141," says ELEKTRA cover artist Greg Horn. "I didn't understand what the hell was going on - Cyclops: Slain?! Nightcrawler: Slain?! I had to pick it up!" Artists John Byrne and Terry Austin demonstrated here why the ever-defiant Wolverine's a mad dog that can't be put down.

 

 

ASM #50 should be #1, ASM #39 should be #2, ASM #69 should be #3, ASM #75 should be #4 and ASM #59 should be #5.

[chrisco37]

Agree w/ your top 2, as far as ASM's go. I'd rank #136 as my third, and #122 as my fourth.

[supapimp]

both you guys suck, asm 28 should be #1 but it's asm 50.

[COI]

Ditko blows........Romita rules!

[supapimp]

ditko blows romita outta the water if that's what you mean.

[blowout]

Ditko blows........Romita rules!

 

[BradleyX2]

 

 

 

100 Best Covers #4: Green Lantern #85 (1971)

 

 

 

 

Speedy may have been the junkie, but one look at Neal Adams' shocking cover got readers hooked.

In 1971, DC dared tackle a hot topic that had been banned from comics: drug abuse. Then Marvel-publisher Stan Lee had turned Spider-Man's roommate into an LSD user a few months before, but this was the first time an actual superhero shot up. Adams knew the startling story deserved an arresting cover - and he delivered.

"That's the kind of cover where you go, 'I've gotta read this comic!" gushes Erik Larsen.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was shocked," confirms Adams. At the time Adams drew it, the Comics Code still banned drugs from storylines, and it was several months before the art saw print. "You couldn't discuss drugs in any way," continues Adams. "Everyone passed this cover around like it was a hot poker. It kind of sat there like a festering sore. No one thought it would ever see print."

It almost didn't. Adams says DC "flipped out" and two weeks later, a publishers meeting commenced to have the Comics Code guidelines rewritten. "Immediately subsequent to that, we received the green light to go ahead with the book."

With that, Adams proved the Code needed a drug of its own: a Valium.

[chrisco37]

 

 

100 Best Covers #4: Green Lantern #85 (1971)

 

 

 

 

Speedy may have been the junkie, but one look at Neal Adams' shocking cover got readers hooked.

In 1971, DC dared tackle a hot topic that had been banned from comics: drug abuse. Then Marvel-publisher Stan Lee had turned Spider-Man's roommate into an LSD user a few months before, but this was the first time an actual superhero shot up. Adams knew the startling story deserved an arresting cover - and he delivered.

"That's the kind of cover where you go, 'I've gotta read this comic!" gushes Erik Larsen.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was shocked," confirms Adams. At the time Adams drew it, the Comics Code still banned drugs from storylines, and it was several months before the art saw print. "You couldn't discuss drugs in any way," continues Adams. "Everyone passed this cover around like it was a hot poker. It kind of sat there like a festering sore. No one thought it would ever see print."

It almost didn't. Adams says DC "flipped out" and two weeks later, a publishers meeting commenced to have the Comics Code guidelines rewritten. "Immediately subsequent to that, we received the green light to go ahead with the book."

With that, Adams proved the Code needed a drug of its own: a Valium.

 

Neal Adams

[RustyStaple]

 

 

100 Best Covers #4: Green Lantern #85 (1971)

 

 

 

 

Speedy may have been the junkie, but one look at Neal Adams' shocking cover got readers hooked.

In 1971, DC dared tackle a hot topic that had been banned from comics: drug abuse. Then Marvel-publisher Stan Lee had turned Spider-Man's roommate into an LSD user a few months before, but this was the first time an actual superhero shot up. Adams knew the startling story deserved an arresting cover - and he delivered.

"That's the kind of cover where you go, 'I've gotta read this comic!" gushes Erik Larsen.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was shocked," confirms Adams. At the time Adams drew it, the Comics Code still banned drugs from storylines, and it was several months before the art saw print. "You couldn't discuss drugs in any way," continues Adams. "Everyone passed this cover around like it was a hot poker. It kind of sat there like a festering sore. No one thought it would ever see print."

It almost didn't. Adams says DC "flipped out" and two weeks later, a publishers meeting commenced to have the Comics Code guidelines rewritten. "Immediately subsequent to that, we received the green light to go ahead with the book."

With that, Adams proved the Code needed a drug of its own: a Valium.

 

Neal Adams

 

Another deserving issue

[Jgel]

 

 

100 Best Covers #4: Green Lantern #85 (1971)

 

 

 

 

Speedy may have been the junkie, but one look at Neal Adams' shocking cover got readers hooked.

In 1971, DC dared tackle a hot topic that had been banned from comics: drug abuse. Then Marvel-publisher Stan Lee had turned Spider-Man's roommate into an LSD user a few months before, but this was the first time an actual superhero shot up. Adams knew the startling story deserved an arresting cover - and he delivered.

"That's the kind of cover where you go, 'I've gotta read this comic!" gushes Erik Larsen.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was shocked," confirms Adams. At the time Adams drew it, the Comics Code still banned drugs from storylines, and it was several months before the art saw print. "You couldn't discuss drugs in any way," continues Adams. "Everyone passed this cover around like it was a hot poker. It kind of sat there like a festering sore. No one thought it would ever see print."

It almost didn't. Adams says DC "flipped out" and two weeks later, a publishers meeting commenced to have the Comics Code guidelines rewritten. "Immediately subsequent to that, we received the green light to go ahead with the book."

With that, Adams proved the Code needed a drug of its own: a Valium.

 

Neal Adams

 

Another deserving issue

 

I have to agree for once. Great cover. I just cannot image what the reaction to this issue was when it first hit the stands.

[BradleyX2]

 

 

 

100 Best Covers #3: Captain America #332 (1987)

 

 

 

 

Captain America, the living embodiment of the American Dream, bleeds red, white and blue for his country. On this cover, the American flag bleeds for him.

Since World War II, Captain America has fought to preserve the American dream, but in CAPTAIN AMERICA # 332, the Sentinel of Liberty faced the most difficult choice of his career. Faced with an impossible question, would Cap allow his actions to be directed by a shadowy government agency or give up the persona that - to him - was more real than his secret identity of Steve Rogers? The answer shocked fans and sent ripples through the rest of the Marvel Universe when Cap stripped off the red, white and blue, dropped his shield, and just walked away.

Cover artists Mike Zeck and Klaus Janson crafted the perfect snapshot that caught the weight of Cap's momentous decision with their somber imagery, while President Abe Lincoln looks down from the corner box with a tear in his eye.

"This cover has everything to do with Cap's feelings about America and the flag," recalls Zeck.

Then-CAP editor Don Daley and then-writer Mark Gruenwald intended to startle readers with the cover by reminding them how important Captain America is. "Is he a dinosaur? Is he obsolete?" Daley asks. "Our point was, 'No!' When this story was over, you'd appreciate why we needed a Cap more than ever."

[COI]

 

 

100 Best Covers #3: Captain America #332 (1987)

 

 

 

 

Captain America, the living embodiment of the American Dream, bleeds red, white and blue for his country. On this cover, the American flag bleeds for him.

Since World War II, Captain America has fought to preserve the American dream, but in CAPTAIN AMERICA # 332, the Sentinel of Liberty faced the most difficult choice of his career. Faced with an impossible question, would Cap allow his actions to be directed by a shadowy government agency or give up the persona that - to him - was more real than his secret identity of Steve Rogers? The answer shocked fans and sent ripples through the rest of the Marvel Universe when Cap stripped off the red, white and blue, dropped his shield, and just walked away.

Cover artists Mike Zeck and Klaus Janson crafted the perfect snapshot that caught the weight of Cap's momentous decision with their somber imagery, while President Abe Lincoln looks down from the corner box with a tear in his eye.

"This cover has everything to do with Cap's feelings about America and the flag," recalls Zeck.

Then-CAP editor Don Daley and then-writer Mark Gruenwald intended to startle readers with the cover by reminding them how important Captain America is. "Is he a dinosaur? Is he obsolete?" Daley asks. "Our point was, 'No!' When this story was over, you'd appreciate why we needed a Cap more than ever."

 

 

I would KILL to own the original to this book, and it's one of my collecting "holy grails". One of the first books I bought off the stands as a kid. The cover floored me then, and it still floors me now.

[joe_collector]

Sorry, but I can't agree on the Captain America cover, as he's given up being Cap so many times, that it just smacks of "yet another gimmick".

 

Let me guess, he came back, right?

[COI]

Sorry, but I can't agree on the Captain America cover, as he's given up being Cap so many times, that it just smacks of "yet another gimmick".

 

Let me guess, he came back, right?

 

Who cares? Every single comic gimmick has been done to death. How many times has Spidey quit? Does it make the cover to ASM #50 any less appealing? Did the Phoenix stay dead? Does it make your precious X-books any less important to you?

 

Look at the cover itself from just an artistic standpoint. You can't deny that it's a great image. This is the top 100 covers, not the top 100 significant comicbook events.

[COI]

Look at it this way; Does the cover to X-Men #141 seem less appealing to you, considering that the "future past" crepe has been re-hashed to death?